Hello all,

I have no experience with carbs, the only experience with carbs I do have was along time ago and it was a computer operated carb and I never even had to pump the throttle to start it, or mess with idle or choke, it was all automatic, and worked great.

I will run my procedure EVERYDAY by you, Its been no colder that 70 lately, yet when I leave my sammy parked out overnight, I have to pump the throttle 5 or 6 times to start it, after which, it kicks up to high idle, and wont come back down for like 5 minutes, If Its only been off for say a few hours or a little longer, I dont even need to pump it at all. I turns right over.

If its been sitting overnight and I dont pump it it will start instantly, like it does if its been sitting for a few hours, but then immediately die.

Is this normal? fyi its an 87 and has 140k on it. I have cleaned the carb throat and linkages very well.

I just dont think the choke should be kicking on in 70 degree MINIMUM temps,  and the fact that I cant seem to kick the choke off, my dad says I should be able to tap the pedal and it would kick off, but it wont, If I have to go somewhere and cant wait, I have to use 2nd and/or slip the clutch.

Thanks, I did a search and it only pulled up one, unrelated topic

You need the choke to start it - even at 70 degrees - and your choke is obviously not working.

I'm not familar with the Sami, it probably uses a different carb to my Swift, other than that and a few minor differences the engines are similar - flooring the throttle once should set the choke, but it doesn't seem to be doing it in your case - pumping the throttle causes the accelerator pump to spray fuel into the manifold, so that is what is probably providing the cold start enrichment that you need.

My guess is that the automatic choke linkage is gummed up and just needs cleaning,

I will look look into this, I cleaned the hell out of all the linkages, but I might have missed one or something. I will also try flooring it once, when I pump it, they are like 3/4 of the way down the pedal travel, not completely to the floor.
Thanks, will let you know, as a said I know nothing about carbs.

any other ideas, I really want to hear some other people with a sammy, and if that sounds about right for normal starting, or how they start theirs

I'd say the choke is not working right. You should just touch the key and it should fire right up. You do still need the choke for the initial start even at 70. The fast idle is really anoying but I've owned lots and if it did it then I'd never be able to get it not to do it. You can tap the pedal all you want but it won't make a difference.

Did you take the carb apart? You might want to try complete take apart and rebuild. I don't touch carbs but last month I got my 413K done and it runs so good now. The choke was stuck on it and the second barrel was seized solid. It only ran when you had your foot on the gas and it wasn't good. Now it purrs when it runs.

I've got to hook up a manual choke because the stock choke is missing a spring and I can't find one. It's hard to start at times and will no take off when cold but once warmed up and running it just purrs.

Check the vacuums and if you got a friend that has a samurai from 86 to 88 take the little black box from him and try his to see if it makes a difference. The black box is behind the speaker on the passenger side. I know it controls the carb and it might be causing the fast idle.

I will see this winter if it becomes a problem.  Im sure with how old it is it could stand rebuilt, but the motor runs smooth, so I dunno, I will see if I can clean the linkages some more, maybe try to clean the throat more, see if it helps, its not a huge problem, just kinda annoying.

Zukimoo - every automatic choke vehicle I've owned required the gas pedal to be depressed before starting to set the choke, so that touch the key and it should fire right up does not sound right.

essjay - find the choke linkage and deal with that - the choke plate will be the one at the top of the carburettor.

ok, is that what is commonly referred to as the butterfly?

Butterfly can refer to either the throttle plate or the choke plate - throttle plate(s) are usually closer to the manifold, choke plate is usually closer to the air filter - but yes, choke butterfly is one way it's described/

I will have to look to be sure, but I think there is only one butterfly in my carb, im pretty sure actually.  and its not throttle, if I move the plate with my finger while the engines running it will not affect the engine speed, but it will kill it or let it run, so I thought that was the choke.  But I dont have any other butterflies that i see, just this one on the passenger side of the carb

I might be wrong but the zukes that I''ve owned, well the ones that worked good, would start with the touch of the key without touching the gas. I've got one in the back right now. touch the key and it starts right up. IT runs like snot until it warms up but no gas. My LJ needs gas but it's got a manual choke and no LJ will just start with a touch of a key.

Zukimoo

My Suzuki Swift - Aisin carb with auto choke - will start with just a touch of the key, but, the choke isn't set and as a result, it will run as you say "like snot until it warms up".

OTOH - follow the owner's manual and depress the throttle to set the choke, before touching the key and it will work like it's supposed to - start, idle at 1200~1500 rpm, and can be driven pretty much immediately.

On the Aisin caburettor the choke plate will close when the engine is cold, even though the throttle has not been depressed, so you do get the "cold start enrichment" required to start the engine, but depressing the throttle moves the throttle stop mechanism out of the path of the fast idle cam, allowing it to set up the fast idle required for proper warmup, etc.

Most auto-choke carburettors follow this principle - with the actual choke plate being opened/closed by a bi-metallic element, based entirely on temperature.

I checked and everything is pretty clean, and it doesnt matter if I stomp it once, or tap it, if its sat overnight, you need to pump the accelerator 7 times, and its starts, then idles up. its just annoying, I dont like my engine to rev very high when its just been started, I use lucas oil stabilizer, but Im only using mobil 1 clean5000, so its not as protected as Id like it to be.  But it uses oil(dont know where, it doesnt leak and doesnt smoke, and doesnt blow-by.  So I cannot afford to spend that much on oil just to replace it.  O well, guess I will chalk it up to an old carb.

going out tomorow morning and I'll try the press the pedal thing....it makes sense and thanks for the info. The zuke I got here has a fussy owner and he hates the high rev starts...he also doesn't want any oil leaks.....which is almost impossible.

essjay

If you have to pump seven times to get a start I would have to guess your choke is completely non functional and you're depending on the raw fuel that the accelerator pump is spraying into the manifold to get a start - I'm also inclined to think your accelerator pump is not working properly, possibly not spraying as much fuel per stroke as it should.

Tomorrow morning - before starting the engine or pumping the throttle - remove the air cleaner and check the choke plate, it should be closed or almost closed - blocking the flow of air through the carburettor's primary barrel - if it's not that'll be the place to start looking.

One of the vehicles parked outside my house is my mother's 22 year old Hyundai, it's carburetted with a manual choke - that car might be started once a week, but I can floor the throttle once to prime that thing, turn the key and it's running - with no choke - mind you ambient temps here are in the '80's

Yeah thats what I thought, thats what my dad says too, he was like "back in the 60s in the WINTER you only had to pump it a couple times"  I know there is an issue, when 3 hours after parking it, it fires right up with no gas, but 8 hours after, it wont start up unless you pump the crap out of it, I though maybe  there was a pressure leak in my gas system, oh btw, is there supposed to be a little tube coming off my fuel pump(mechanical on side of engine) thats pointing down and has nothing on it? its just a black metal pipe that I assume was a vent for something, so that the pump couldnt airlock,